Sunday Stills Challange – Bugs

Sunday Stills has gone buggy!  I think I got lucky this week and found mostly pretty bugs…

Some sort of brown spider… I see them in the garden a lot; we usually call them Daddy Longlegs but I think they might be something else.  Anyone here a spider expert?

One of the numerous ladybugs farming aphids in the thistle plants around the compost piles.  I didn’t even notice until later, when I loaded the pictures, that he had tiny dew drops on him.

Found a male Stream Bluet resting – hunting? – in the middle of the mud puddle that serves as the tadpole pond.

Red-Shouldered Ctenucha.  I’d never seen this moth before; I thought it might be related to the Cinnabar moths, since some of the young caterpillars are munching on the leaves above it, until I looked it up and discovered it had a bright blue body (this guy kept his wings closed while I was watching).

Female Twelve Spotted Skimmer

Male Twelve Spotted Skimmer.

Male Variegated Meadowhawk.  The dragonflies really seem to like this particular post, which is in the middle of one of our field gates, though I’m not sure why.  I went out a couple times today armed with the camera and hung around for awhile but nobody wanted to pose.  I saw at least five or six zooming back and forth over the hay field but couldn’t keep them in the frame long enough to get a decent shot of them in flight!

A young Orb Weaver and her – his? – catches.

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Sunday Stills: Yellow Flowers

As you can guess from the post’s title, this week’s challenge is the color yellow yellow flowers – I forgot and was thinking the challenge was the color yellow, good thing I checked the post!

Chestnut blooms in the barnyard – they’re at least two weeks early this year!

Birdsfoot Trefoil growing in one of the fence braces.

Okay, this one’s not a flower – the tansy isn’t blooming yet but the Cinnabar Moth caterpillars are yellow…

Sunday Stills: No Zoom Required

It’s that time of the week again!  This week’s challenge is no zoom a.k.a get creative and use the original zoom – your legs.  I never really realized how much I actually rely on my camera’s zoom, even it’s the tiniest magnification.

Speaking of cameras,  the SX20 is going into semi retirement as my macro lens now that I’ve officially upgraded to this baby.

And, from Skywatch Friday…

 

 

Skywatch Friday

One of the numerous thunderheads that passed us on their way east, towards Mt. Hood.   Yesterday was hot and unbearably humid, though any southerner or midwesterner would have laughed and shook their heads.  Summer in the Pacific Northwest is, for the most part,  a dry heat with humidity levels hanging around 30%, sometimes lower, in the hottest months, so it’s always an unwelcome change when it soars past that magic number.

Click here to see more skies from all over the world!

Sunday Stills Challenge – The Color Brown

A last minute Sunday Stills because the week got away from me and I didn’t have time to snap pictures of interesting brown things.

Evening hunter

Marco Monday

A Twelve-spotted Skimmer enjoying his perch.  This post must have been a favorite because he kept circling back for a landing whenever I got too close.

Sunday Stills Challenge – Clouds

This week’s Sunday Stills challenge was clouds.  I have an unhealthy love affair with clouds – the fluffy white things fascinate me – so any excuse to go take more pictures of them is always appreciated!  We got quite a show this week…

Some baby clouds…

Today’s approaching storm (click to enlarge).

Sunday Stills Challenge: Musical Groups or Songs in Photos

I didn’t have a lot of time this week, but this challenge was definitely fun (and a challenge!).  Both photos are song titles – try your luck and take a guess?  Beware,  I listen to country…

Answers below…

 

 

 

♦ Where the Blacktop Ends – Keith Urban
♦ Mud on the Tires – Brad Paisley

Macro Monday

Sunday Stills Challenge – The Color Pink

This week’s challenge is the color pink.  It just so happens that one of our pink rhodies, Mary Belle,  is blooming…

 

Mel’s nose is mostly black but he does have a small patch of pink inside his left right nostril.  He wasn’t too happy about the camera being stuck in his face….

Macro Monday

Found this cute little guy lurking in a flat of tomato plants.

Skywatch Friday

Two Buzzards (Turkey Vultures) doing some lazy circles.  The sky went from that clear blue to this:

Click here to see skies from all over the world.

Skywatch Friday

This gorgeous sunset to the west, and to the east…

This post is part of Skywatch Friday; for more skies from all over the world click below.

Sunday Stills Challenge: Bird Watching

This week’s challenge of Bird Watching couldn’t have been timed better, our humming birds returned, and I saw a couple buzzards circling, but of course I was nowhere near the camera!

One of my favorites from the February archives.

Red-tail Hawk across the canyon…

First humming bird of spring.

Checking out the feeder…

Sunday Stills Challenge: Weather or Not

We’ve definitely had a very fickle spring this year… Warm up for a couple days, snow several inches, repeat weekly.

Second day of the most recent snowfall.  It was actually deeper, but some melted off the bottom during the day.

And finally, some blue sky!  Here’s to hoping spring-like weather shows up soon…

Sunday Stills Challenge – Birds

Thanks to the weather this week I had to raid the January archives for the challenge.  First it was non stop snow  – over a foot and a half – and then torrential rain that added up to at least 11 ½”, not exactly weather to be out snapping photos, unfortunately!

Cold Wren

Our pair of Redtail Hawks.

Sunday Stills Challenge – Corners

Interesting challenge, I wish I had more time this week to get pictures of more corners.  Here’s my lonely corner:

Any guesses on what it is?

Skywatch Friday

Love my new circular polarizing filter, it works wonders on clouds!

Click to view skies from all around the world:

Sunday Stills Challenge: Happy New Year

Is it really a new year already?  Seems like just yesterday we were heading out to cut the first hayfield of the summer.

Thanks to Linda at Colorado Farm Life for another great challenge!  The end-of-the-year challenge are always, for  lack of a better word, a challenge.  I usually have several favorites from each time I got out shoot, so it’s tough to pick just one from the whole year, but this year I had a top three (usually it’s more!) to narrow it down from.

Speaking of haying, I discovered this Goldenrod crab spider and his catch while I was out checking the hayfield we were about to lay down for tansy.  These spiders blend in incredibly well.  If not for the moth and the tiny splash of red on the spider’s body, I never would have even noticed that someone was using the plant as his hunting ground.

I haven’t yet given much thought to my photographic aspirations for this coming year….  As always, there is so much to learn about photography, it is a never-ending learning curve.  Sometime this year – for graduation, perhaps – I hope to upgrade to a DSLR.  I’ve got my eye on the Canon EOS Rebel T3i (600D)…

Hope everyone is having a great New Year’s Day!

Macro Monday

Hope everyone had a merry Christmas!  One of my favorite gifts was this beautiful leather cuff with oak tooling that matches my saddle almost perfectly!

Nothing like a little “spring cleaning” thanks to a computer virus.   It’s gone now but the computer is so giddy about all the empty space that it doesn’t know what to do with its self!

Sunday Stills Challenge: Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to the Sunday Stills Challenge!  In honor of the first ever challenge, this week’s assignment is pets.

Keeping his eye out for stalking barn cats.

Enjoying some rare afternoon rays.

Posing for a quick photo.  “Yeah, I know I’m cool.”

 

Skywatch Friday: The Last of November

The last sunset of November; dramatic clouds and mist rolling down the canyon – certainly a beautiful way to end the month!  I took another stab at HDR (High Dynamic Range), but I needed a couple more exposures to bring out the detail in the trees.

Click here to see more beautiful skies from around the world.

Skywatch Friday

Finally got a break from the downpour of the last few days and actually had a semi nice day.  Not bad for the end of November!

A jay with his loot.

Click here to see more skies from all over the world.

Macro Monday

Had our first hard frost of the fall last night; it actually got cold enough to freeze the puddles and leave a thin sheet on the water buckets.  It snowed about an inch the night before, then the sky cleared…

Found this poor guy hiding on a fence post – he must have been freezing!  (pun not intended).

Sunday Stills Challenge – Portraits

Eek, portraits!  I’m generally not a portrait person, especially people portraits (none of the humans around here are willing models… ;)), but here’s what I came up with.

Macro Monday

Thanks to the late, wet summer the chestnuts are considerably smaller this year, and just now starting to drop and be cut by the Steller Jays.

Sunday Stills Challenge: Potluck with a Purpose

Another great challenge! The the trash bin can really force you to look at your composition and your exposure.  The camera may be a “point & shoot,” but if you put the time and thought- the situation allowing –  into the photo, it becomes more than just a snap shot.

(Dog and deer repellent) Classic snap shot – gets the job done but leaves quite a bit to be desired.

All the same elements, different angle and more visually appealing composition.

I actually like this shot, but the background, especially the the electric wire running through the bottom of the frame is distracting and detracts from the photo.

Since the drop and the barb are the subject, they should fill the majority of frame.  I like the lens flare as well, I think it works for with the drop and sun rays.

Skywatch Friday

For more skies all over the world, click here.

Sunday Stills Challenge: 25 and 50 Steps

Choose a starting spot, walk 25 steps in any direction and take 3 photos. The 25 steps can be outside your home, inside your home, in your neighborhood or away from your neighborhood.  Once your steps have been counted out, you must anchor one foot, you can pivot on that foot but your anchor foot may not move.

This was a great challenge, had a lot of fun with it!

Twenty five steps east of the horse barn, looking south.

West:

North; hedge:

50 steps south of the house:
Carrots for the house and barn (NE)

Faithful guardian (SE).

Some serious stretching required to get this one.  That articulating LCD screen does come in handy, though! (South)

Skywatch Friday

Sunrise from the kitchen window!

For more skies all over the world, click here.

Macro Monday

It’s the middle of October and the strawberries are still going strong!

Sunday Stills Challenge: Vanishing Points

Who knew it would be so hard to find a decent vanishing point??  My attempt…

More Sunday Stills here!

Macro Monday

Found this cool partial spider web on a fence post on my way out to do chores yesterday morning.

Sunday Stills Challenge: Macro/Extreme Closeups

Pitch on a firewood log.

Some sort of pollinator… not exactly sure what it is.

Loaded-down honeybee on a blackberry blossom.

Sunday Stills Challenge: Sunrise and/or Sunset

I love sunsets; there is just something magical about them that never seems to lose its charm, no matter how many you’ve seen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday Stills Challenge: Farm Animals

Bit of a tough challenge this week 😉  Since I missed last week’s, I went for extra challenge of getting ones that haven’t been posted about.

Mother & Daughter

Getting ones hair done is often a family affair.

Playtime!

Okay, I couldn’t resist.

Macro Monday

Got so busy last week that I missed Sunday Stills!  At least there’s always next week. 😉

When I first saw the bee, I thought it had gotten too cold to fly, since it was pretty overcast.  But then I noticed the white spider – practically the same color as the rose – with a death grip on bee’s neck.  Without the two red stripes on its back, it blends in incredibly well.  Did a quick Internet search and found out that the spider is a Goldenrod Crab Spider, which is either white or yellow, depending on what color flower they are hunting on, and they can change between the two colors.

 

 

 

Sunday Stills Challenge

The letter “F”.

Firepower

Friends

Field

Look What Came in the Mail!

I ordered this new beauty on Sunday from Amazon and got it late yesterday afternoon.   I’ve only used it for a couple of hours and I already love it to death!

It’s a Canon PowerShot SX20 IS – it has 20 x optical zoom and 4 x digital zoom, which adds up to 80 x zoom altogether.  No offense to Kodak, but I have only used barely even a quarter of the settings it (Canon) has to off and it has already proven itself  to be absolutely amazing.

It’s bulkier and heavier than the Kodak, but I personally like having something to fill my hands, so that is a pro for me.  The weight also seems to help reduce the shake produced from pressing down the shutter.  The only complaint I have so far is that there is no leash on the lens cap, making it easy for it to slip off.  So far my favorite setting has been the “Super Macro” which allows you to amazing macros without having to have a DSLR with a macro lens.    I’m also very impressed with how it handles low light  – took a couple of photos in the house with the auto setting and they were great.  Can’t wait to see how it does at my next concert!

Here’s a couple sample shots I’ve taken:

From this…

To this:

A macro example:

Sunday Stills Challenge: B&W/Sepia

Confession: these were all edited to B&W…

My loyal guardian, happy to pose for me.

I was not expecting to find this lurking in at the edge of the mud puddle, with the tadpoles – I think he scared me more than I scared him.  It was a pretty warm day, so maybe he was trying to cool off… or maybe frog meat was on the menu?

Almost walked into it 😉

And what would this be without an “old timey” bridge photo?  This is the Oregon City bridge, over the Willamette, by the way.

See what the rest of the Sunday Stills gang is doing here!